Imperfections
by MusedMoose
Summary: What if Yumi found Chi, instead of Hideki?  How does a girl with so many issues about Persocoms deal with one who isn't so perfect?  Femslash, Yumi/Chi.
1. How Long Have I Been Sleeping

**Author's Note:** as stated in the summary, this story is femslash. All characters, settings, and so forth are the property of the creators. This story is based on the Chobits manga, not the anime, in case of any significant differences in plot or characters. I haven't watched the anime for a long time, so I'm not sure how much is different.

Thanks for reading; hope you enjoy the story.

* * *

><p>Part 1: How Long Have I Been Sleeping<p>

When Yumi walked home, she took the longer way, because the short way took her past Chiroru, and she couldn't risk seeing Mister Ueda.

Time healed all wounds, her mother told her. Her mother also always used that little tone of disapproval whenever she spoke about such things; Yumi knew why. Her relationship with Mister Ueda, so much older than her, was one her mother never approved of. Yumi's heart clenched as she remembered the look on his face when she told him she had to break up with him. The look her mother wore afterward had been one of sympathy but quiet approval.

Yumi shook her head, and told herself to stop thinking about that. It wouldn't do her any good, and she didn't want to arrive home with tears in her eyes. Her parents would only start asking questions, and the first one would be about Mister Ueda.

So Yumi walked the longer way, past the small apartments and–

Something across the street caught her eye, something bright in the streetlights.

Yumi blinked, wiped a few tears from her eyes, and looked again. Something lay in the garbage, waiting to be picked up, something shaped like a person. Yumi gasped and ran over. What was a person doing in the trash? Could something have happened? She could call the police, she–

No, it wasn't a person, she realized as she drew nearer. It was a persocom.

It looked like a girl about Yumi's age, maybe a year or two younger, with pale skin and long, light blonde hair and devices of white and pink where its ears should be. Its eyes were closed, and something about its face made it look peaceful, not just turned off, like persocoms did when they were in sleep mode. It was all bound up in white cloth, like whoever threw it out didn't want its arms and legs flopping around all over the trash.

But who would throw out a persocom, Yumi wondered. They were too useful, and it seemed like everyone had one. Maybe this was an older model, and someone got rid of it when they upgraded. But it didn't look like any of the ones she saw in school.

She leaned in closer and looked. No signs of damage or anything like that. Yumi reached out, tentative, and poked at it. The persocom didn't move. She made a nervous giggle, then tried to pick it up. The persocom weighed more than she thought, and after a moment, she had to set it back down. But, she thought, she couldn't just leave it here . . . could she? Or maybe . . . should she?

Yumi leaned back and let her breath out slowly, then nodded to herself. She turned and ran for home.

The house where she lived with her parents and stepsister was big enough for all of them, she thought; if there was room for the family persocom and her sister's, there would be room for another one. Not that she'd normally pull something out of the trash. But something about it . . . why would someone just leave it? And why did she feel like she had to know?

Yumi shoved the questions aside as she dashed through the front door, called out, "I'm home!", then hurried for the kitchen. "Mom, are you there?"

"Good evening, Yumi," her mother said, stepping out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. She stood taller than most women, with grey hair coming in around her temples, and carried herself with a kind of quiet dignity, even when she was doing something like washing dishes. "How was – oh, you didn't take your shoes off-"

"Is Dad here?" Yumi asked quickly. "Someone threw a persocom in the trash, and I can't lift it by myself." She looked around, turned to face the stairs. "Dad! I need your help!"

"What's all this about?" Yumi's mother asked, concern making wrinkles on her brow. "We have a persocom, Hanako does quite well for us-"

"Something's the matter, Yumi?" her father asked as he descended the stairs. Much like her mother, he was going grey, and he looked every inch the successful businessman save for his thick beard. Even here at home, he still wore a collared shirt and slacks; it seemed like all he did to relax was take his tie off. He was her step-father, in truth, but after a few years she thought of him as her dad, and his daughter her sister. "Did something happen at work?"

Yumi shook her head. "Nothing like that," she said. "But someone threw away a persocom, a few blocks away, and I don't want to leave it there. Can you help me bring it back here?"

As Yumi watched, her parents exchanged a significant look. They knew how she felt about human-shaped persocoms, just as they knew what happened with Mister Ueda. It sometimes seemed like everyone knew. She waited, holding back words and the urge to hurry, until her parents made a decision.

Her father put a hand to his greying beard. "Why do you want to bring home something that someone threw away?" he asked. "If it's in the trash, there must be a reason for it. It's probably just broken."

"I know," Yumi said, "but . . . ." She sighed. "I kind of . . . feel sorry for it," she admitted, her voice growing quiet. "Most people want to be around their persocoms all the time, but this one, it's just tied up in the trash. I think someone found a new model and wanted to get rid of it." She looked up at her father, forced herself to smile. "Can I just see if it still works? Please? I'll get rid of it if it doesn't."

Yumi's parents looked at each other again, and Yumi waited. It seemed like they could talk without talking sometimes; her mother once said part of why she wanted to marry the man was because he always seemed to know what she was thinking, and vice-versa. So there was no need for Yumi to say anything. They would make up their minds together.

"We'll see if it works," her father said after a long moment. Her mother just sighed, and returned to the kitchen. "Show me where it is."

"Thank you!" Yumi turned and hurried out of the house, her father following at a more sedate pace.

It didn't take long to reach the apartments again, and Yumi let out a small gasp when she saw the persocom still laying atop the bags of trash. "It's still here!" she called to her father, waving for him to hurry up. "I tried to lift it, but it's too heavy for me!"

Her father adjusted his stiff collar as he walked up to the trash, then cleared his throat as he examined the persocom. "It's not any model I've seen before," he said, half to himself. "Must be one of the newer ones." He crouched, then lifted the persocom under its legs and back, grunted as he stood. "Or an older one . . . much heavier than usual. . . ."

Yumi walked close behind him as they returned home. What was it about this one, she thought. What she told her parents was true, of course; she did want to see if it worked, as there was something odd about finding a persocom in the trash. It looked like one of the more expensive models, but new ones came out so quickly these days, she couldn't be sure. Hopefully she'd find out when they got home.

Her father struggled to carry the persocom through the front door, then grunted again when Yumi asked him to take it to her room. She promised to make cookies as a thank-you, which made him smile.

Yumi's bedroom wasn't large, and a desk and western-style bed took up most of two walls. Her rabbit-shaped persocom sat on her desk, pink and shiny, its large eyes dark. A monitor sat next to it, so she could do homework there. A large bookshelf stood at another wall, filled with books from school and for fun, along with a few stuffed animals and framed pictures. Her closet doors stood half-open, showing her school uniforms hanging there as well as a spare outfit for her work at Club Pleasure.

Once in her room, Yumi's father gently set the bound persocom down on the floor, then stood and pulled out a handkerchief to mop the sweat from his brow. "That had better be some persocom," he said, "to be worth all this." He chuckled at his own joke, then looked to Yumi. "Can you handle it from here?"

"Of course!" Yumi said, giving him her most hopeful look. "The switch should be in her ear units, they usually are."

"Be careful," her father said, pointing a finger at her. "Don't tell it anything personal or give it any important information until you've run a full diagnostic on it. Someone could have loaded it full of viruses in hopes someone else would take it home." He gave her a stern look, and Yumi nodded as he left her room.

Yumi shut the door behind him, then turned and looked at the strange persocom once again. Here, in the light of her bedroom, the persocom seemed paler, but more natural than under the streetlight, and she saw its hair was white, not blonde. Its skin looked almost perfect, like it was really human; Yumi touched it and found it felt much the same. If she hadn't known– No, don't think about it that way, Yumi told herself. Persocoms were machines, even if they did most things better than humans.

Time to see if this one still worked.

Yumi fiddled with the ear units until one opened, a motion that reminded her of a clamshell. She frowned. What was this? The connections seemed standard, but she saw no sign of a switch of any kind, not in the usual place. She thought for a moment, then checked the other ear unit.

Nothing. No switch, nothing to indicate how the persocom should be turned on or even a brand name. Was this a custom job? Some of the boys at school talked about how they wanted to build custom persocoms, though most of that was bragging about how each of their 'coms was going to be more powerful and sexier than anything the others could build. She shook her head at the thought.

So if the switch wasn't in the ear units, Yumi thought, was it somewhere on the body? She tugged down the straps around its shoulders, unwound them from its arms. There wasn't a mark on the persocom, nothing to show why someone threw it away. It wasn't even dirty. And there still was no sign of an on switch.

If this was a custom job, Yumi thought again, the maker might have put the switch somewhere . . . Yumi winced. Some guys were like that about their persocoms. Whether or not they loved them–

Don't think about that, she told herself again, and pulled down the cloth winding around the persocom's small breasts. They looked . . . normal, she thought; nothing special about them. She'd seen their family's persocom, Hanako, without any clothes on when she helped her father make some adjustments to her joints, so this sort of thing wasn't new to her. And again, there was nothing to suggest any kind of switch.

Yumi glanced down to the persocom's legs and wondered again.

"No, they wouldn't do that," she murmured, yet still wondered if it could be true. She'd heard rumors about persocoms designed for that sort of thing, or customized for it. And jokes about it, lots of jokes, usually about someone who couldn't get a real girl so he settled for his 'com. But why would someone put the on switch there? Did they not want anyone else . . . turning the persocom on?

There was only one way to find out, she told herself. And if there wasn't a switch there, she'd just say she hadn't looked there, because it didn't seem like anyone would put the switch there. Good enough. Yumi reached down, wondered for a moment if she should apologize, then felt around. Her fingers found something, and she pushed.

_Click._

The persocom's eyes opened, and a light shined from within them, so much that its entire body seemed to be glowing. It lifted itself halfway up, and Yumi stumbled back, raised one hand to shade her eyes as the glow grew brighter. As the persocom started to move, the cloth wrapped around it came undone, falling to the floor. Yumi stared against the glare. Was she imagining things, or was the persocom's hair lifting up on its own?

And then, all at once, the glow stopped, and the persocom looked at Yumi with wide amber eyes. "Chi?" it said, its voice childlike.

"Chi?" Yumi repeated. "What – what's that mean?"

"Chi?" The persocom blinked at her, as though unsure, then crawled a little closer. "Chi."

There was something about the look in her eyes, Yumi thought, something she'd never seen in a persocom before. "Are you all right?" Yumi asked. Didn't persocoms say something like 'Hello' when you first turned them on? Weren't they supposed to?

"Chi?" The persocom paused, then leaped forward and tackled Yumi to the floor, arms tight around her shoulders. "Chi!"

"What-" Yumi struggled for a moment, but the persocom didn't seem angry or hostile, just . . . affectionate. It nuzzled against Yumi's neck, a smile fixed on its face. "What are you doing?"

"Chi. . . ." was all the persocom said, and did not let go.

Yumi stared at the ceiling, hardly able to believe what was happening. What sort of persocom was this?

Before she could figure anything out, someone knocked on her door. "Yumi?" her father's voice said. "I heard a thump. Are you all right?"

"I – I'm fine!" Yumi called. She started to sit up, felt the persocom's weight on her chest, and pushed at one pale shoulder. The persocom hardly moved. "Get up, please," Yumi said quietly, hoping her dad wouldn't hear.

The persocom pulled back a bit, still leaning on Yumi, and looked down at her. Something like curiosity filled its eyes, as though it had no idea what the problem was. "Chi?"

"Is that all you can say?" Yumi asked, but before the persocom could answer, her father opened the door. "Dad, I think-"

Yumi's father stopped halfway through the door, his eyebrows raised, and stared at the two of them. It was a moment before Yumi realized how strange this must look. Her on the floor, halfway pinned-down by a naked persocom. . . . She managed to laugh.

"She kind of fell over when I turned her on," Yumi said. "I didn't want her to get broken, so I tried to save her, and she fell on me."

"Chi," the persocom said.

"I think there's something wrong with her," Yumi said, trying to change the subject as quickly as she could. "She didn't say 'Hello' or anything like that when I turned her on, all she's said is 'chi'."

The persocom gave her a bright smile. "Chi!"

"Interesting," her father said with a frown. He walked into Yumi's room, and knelt next to the persocom as Yumi wriggled out from under her. "Did you find a serial number, or a brand name?"

"Nothing," Yumi said, shaking her head. "She looks normal, but I don't know who made her, or if she can say anything else. Maybe that's why she got thrown out, if she can't talk like a normal persocom."

Her father popped open the persocom's ear unit, peered inside while the persocom tried to turn and look at him. "Stop that," he said, "I'm trying to inspect you."

"Chi." The persocom started to pull away, stopped when Yumi put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, he just wants to look," Yumi said, then paused when she realized what she was doing. Why . . . why was she trying to comfort a persocom? She'd talked to the persocom like she was a child or something, like she was scared. But then, the persocom leaned closer to her, and seemed to calm down.

"There really isn't anything in here," her father said, then closed the ear unit. "Is it the same on the other side?"

Yumi nodded. "Do you think she's a custom one?"

"That might be it." Her father stood with a strained noise, made a quiet joke about getting older. "I don't have to go to the office tomorrow, so I'll take it into see Mutou down at the service shop. He'll be able to figure out what's wrong with it." He started toward the door, then looked back over his shoulder. "It's not much smaller than you. See if some of your old clothes will fit it."

Yumi nodded, then looked back to the persocom as her father left. "Is 'chi' really all you can say?" she asked.

"Chi?" The persocom looked confused, as though she didn't understand why she should say anything else.

"Looks like it." Yumi sighed, then did her best to smile. "Looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see why you can't talk." She pointed at herself. "Yumi. I'm Yumi. Can you say 'Yumi'?"

"Chi?"

"I guess not," Yumi said with a small laugh. "Don't worry. We'll figure you out." And again, she wondered, why did she feel the need to comfort this one. . . .


	2. You in the Window

Part 2: You in the Window

Yumi gazed out the window and watched the clouds go by as she waited for the teacher to stop talking so class could be over and she could go home. She didn't have to work today, and by the time she got home, her dad should have the persocom back from Mutou's shop. Maybe she'd be fixed, Yumi thought. She knew sometimes just a little thing going wrong made a persocom stop functioning; as advanced as they were, they were still computers, and vulnerable to some of the same problems computers always had.

But she'd never heard of one only being able to say one word.

Someone slapped their hands on her desk, and Yumi jumped with a small cry. She turned to see her friend Misha standing there, hair pulled back in a tight ponytail as usual, staring down at her.

"You," Misha said, poking Yumi's forehead, "have been spaced out all day. Tell me?"

Yumi rubbed at her forehead and managed a smile. "It's nothing, really," she said. "Just something kind of weird happened last night."

Misha's dark eyes brightened. "Something with a boy?" She paused. "Finally?"

"Misha," Yumi murmured. Much like Yumi's parents, Misha hadn't approved of Yumi's relationship with Mister Ueda. But that was because Misha had gotten it into her head that the woman should always be the older one in the relationship. Yumi had never known if this was because Misha had never been able to find a boy she liked older than her or if she just liked bucking tradition. "It's not about that. I found a persocom in someone's trash."

"You were digging through the trash?" Misha's voice threatened to rise to levels only dogs could hear; several of their departing classmates turned and looked. "Yumi, that's-"

"Nothing like that!" Yumi said, also louder than necessary. "It was just sitting there on the trash bags. I took her home, and when I turned her on, all she could say was 'chi'. I think she's broken, so my dad's going to see if she can get fixed."

"Oh," Misha said, quickly sounding disappointed. "So that's it. Is it a regular persocom? A person-shaped one?" When Yumi nodded, Misha frowned, the corners of her small mouth drawing down. "I didn't think you'd want one of those."

Misha didn't need to explain why, Yumi thought. After what happened with Mister Ueda, no one would expect her to want a full-size persocom. "I didn't," Yumi said quietly. "But there's . . . something about her, I think. I felt sorry for her, getting thrown out in the trash like that. And she's not like other persocoms."

"Of course not," Misha said, and winked. "She was free."

"Not just that." Yumi thought for a moment, then stood. "Come on, we can talk about it on the way out."

They headed out into the wide hallway, classroom doors standing open on both walls. The midsummer sunlight came in through dozens of high windows, and a few persocoms stood outside the classrooms, waiting for their owners to emerge. Yumi leaned her arms back and stretched. Days like this, all the better that she didn't have to go to work. Days like this were made for not doing much of anything at all.

And it seemed Misha was thinking much the same thing. "Do you want to go to the mall?" she asked. "There's that new tea place, and I want to see if it's any good."

"I can't today," Yumi said, bowed her head a bit as apology. "My dad should have the persocom back from the shop by now, so I want to see if she's working."

"You got a persocom, Oumura?"

Yumi stifled a sigh at the sound of the familiar voice, and turned. One of her classmates stood there, a boy named Kenji who bragged a lot about his custom work on persocoms. "Hello, Kenji," Yumi said. "I have a persocom, but I don't think I'll bring her to school."

Kenji pushed up his thick glasses, ran his hand over his spiky hair. Yumi wondered if he spiked his hair up like that so he wouldn't look so much like a computer geek. "What model?" he asked. "The SX-3000's out soon, tell me you didn't-"

Misha stepped up and waved her hand in Kenji's face. "She doesn't have to tell you a thing, so you can just wonder about it," she said. "Now, shoo!"

"Piss off." Kenji seemed like he was doing his best to ignore Misha, which must have been hard. "Come on, tell me what you've got." He leered at Yumi. "Or is it something weak, so you don't want to say?"

"I can't say because I don't know," Yumi said, then moved a step closer to Misha. "I think she's custom-"

"You've got a custom job, Oumura?" Kenji asked, just short of a shout. "No way! I didn't think you were into 'coms that much, I never would have guessed that! What's her processor speed?"

"Nine thousand 'go away's a second," Misha said, then laughed in Kenji's face when he blinked at her. She grabbed Yumi's arm, then turned and ran, forcing Yumi to hurry along with her. She didn't stop until they were outside the school. "I really can't stand that guy," Misha said, looking back the way they'd come with a frown on her face.

"I . . . I know," Yumi said, trying to catch her breath. "And I'm sorry . . . I really want to see if they've got the persocom fixed."

Misha gave a dramatic sigh. "You're dumping me for a persocom." She put the back of her hand to her forehead, a pose full of overwrought pain, then froze. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She balled up her hands under her chin. "I shouldn't have said that, that's not funny for you!"

Yumi just shook her head. When Misha got dramatic, the more rational parts of her mind kind of took a holiday. Once, she'd turned a simple problem with returning a purse into a fiasco that took three managers to straighten out. "It's okay," she said. "And it was kind of funny. But we can go . . . the next day I have off of work. I just have to see if she's working."

"Then bring her along when we go out," Misha said with a nod. "I want to see this mysterious persocom you pulled out of the trash."

"I will! See you tomorrow!" Yumi hurried away with a wave. Home wasn't too far away, she thought; with any luck, her dad had taken the persocom to Mutou's shop first thing in the morning, and she would be working now.

Yumi slowed as her thoughts caught up with her. Something still seemed strange. What she'd found was . . . just another persocom, right? Even if she acted differently than any persocom Yumi had heard of. Her sister's persocom had said "Hey, baby" when she turned it on; of course, her sister paid extra for the personality that complimented her all the time. Yumi had never understood that. But her own rabbit-shaped persocom back at home had just said "Hello!" when she first turned it on. Even her PDA did the same, it seemed like the standard programming. So maybe whatever persocoms used for talking, the new one was broken there.

But even then, she'd never heard of a persocom hugging someone as soon as it was turned on, or having a switch . . . there. The thought still made Yumi feel a little strange. Custom job or not, it just didn't seem right.

Hopefully Mutou had some answers for her dad.

Yumi arrived home and ran inside. "I'm home!" she said as she walked in. "Dad, did you talk to Mutou? Is the persocom all right?"

Her father's voice came from somewhere nearby, and he did not sound happy. "I'm in the office," he said. "Come in here please, Yumi."

Yumi took off her shoes slowly, donned a pair of house slippers. When was the last time her dad had sounded like that? She approached the office slowly, hoping something bad hadn't happened.

"Good afternoon, dad," Yumi said as she entered the office. Her father's desk took up most of the room, with a large monitor and keyboard and stacks of paper next to the printer. But where their persocom should have been, a different persocom stood next to the desk, a brown-haired male in a suit with absolutely no expression on his face. Several wires from his streamlined ear units connected to the monitor and keyboard. "Who's that?" Yumi asked. "Doesn't Hanako usually help you work-"

"Hanako," her father interrupted, "is in Mutou's shop for repairs. I took her along with me and your new persocom, so she could help if needed. Mutou gives a discount if you have one of your own machines help." He paused, and Yumi nodded. He then gave her a pointed look.

"When we plugged Hanako and one of Mutou's diagnostic persocoms into your new one, both of them blew out in a matter of seconds. Hanako's hair caught fire and melted part of her face."

Yumi put a hand to her mouth as she gasped. "What – what did she do? I didn't think persocoms could hurt each other like that."

"Neither did Mutou." Her father shook his head. "After that, he was reluctant to plug anything else into her. I'm sure you can understand. But he did try to get her specs by plugging her into a monitor." He spread his hands. "Yumi, she has no data at all. She doesn't appear to have an OS. She shouldn't even be able to move, let alone speak."

Yumi leaned against the door frame, trying to take all this in. First the persocom ruined others just by plugging into them, and then she shouldn't be doing anything to begin with? "Did Mutou figure out anything about her?" she asked quietly.

"Only that she's definitely a custom job," her father said. "He knows the brands better than anyone, and he's never seen a model like her. It's possible she's someone's mistake, or she broke and even whoever made her couldn't figure out how to fix her." He folded his hands, rested his chin on them. "What do you want to do with her?"

Yumi started to say something, then paused. What good would a persocom that couldn't do anything be? She wouldn't be of any real use, but . . . Yumi started to wonder if this had ever happened before. Persocoms were supposed to be so helpful, that was why everybody wanted one and why so many people spent all their time with them. One that couldn't do anything . . . no wonder she'd been out in the trash.

"Where is she?" Yumi asked.

Her father sighed. "She's in your room, I told her to stay there. I haven't seen her, so I think she understood. You'd better make sure she didn't try to plug into your desktop or something worse."

"I will," Yumi said with a nod. "Thank you for taking her to Mutou, Dad."

"Thank me by not saying anything to Hanako about her face when she gets back." Her father shook his head. "I told Mutou to erase her memory of the incident, and I don't want her to think anything's different."

Yumi nodded again, then headed up to her room, taking the steps slowly. After waiting all day, there were still no answers. Just more questions. When she reached her door, she opened it just a bit and peered inside first.

The persocom sat there in one of Yumi's plain white shirts and an old denim skirt, staring out the window, watching the clouds go by. Somehow, she looked entirely at peace, as though she had no idea what sort of problems she'd caused. Yumi frowned for a moment, then reconsidered. If the persocom didn't have any data, she probably didn't understand what she'd done. How could she? She couldn't even say more than one word.

Yumi pushed the door open, and the persocom animated all at once, stood and rushed toward her. "Chi!" she cried as she ran up and wrapped her arms around Yumi. "Chi!"

Yumi just stood there, unsure of what to do. Slowly, she put her arms around the persocom as well, felt her nuzzle against her again. "I'm home," Yumi said, not entirely sure why.

"Chi," the persocom said, then looked at Yumi and smiled. "Chi!"

"Should that be your name?" Yumi asked, watched the persocom give her a confused look. "Do you . . . want that to be your name?" She'd heard that persocoms were normally programmed to take whatever name their owners gave them, so if this one wasn't like others . . . would she refuse?

"Chi?" the persocom asked, then looked down at herself and back to Yumi. "Chi . . . chi?"

Yumi pointed at her. "Chi," she said, then pointed at herself. "Yumi."

The persocom pointed at her, and said, "Chi."

"No, not me," Yumi said, unable to keep from laughing. She pointed again. "You're Chi, and I'm Yumi."

"Chi," Chi said, pointing at herself, then pointed at Yumi. "Yumi!"

Yumi laughed again, her smile coming easily. It was a start. She looked again at Chi, who somehow seemed eager. "You really don't know anything, do you." Chi gave her another curious look and another "Chi?", and Yumi sighed. "I could probably get you a dictionary program, but . . . would it even work on you? Do you know?"

"Yumi," Chi said, then leaned against her again. "Chi. . . ."

Yumi put a hand on Chi's shoulder, then looked around her room. What could she do? Maybe she could get some kind of teaching program for her desktop, but that might just have her plug Chi into the other machine, and that probably wouldn't be a good idea. She looked some more, until she reached the stacks of schoolbooks and manga on her shelf.

That might work, she thought. Chi could understand people, she could probably read. Yumi tugged on Chi's shoulder, trying to get her to move back, but the persocom didn't seem to want to move. "Chi," Yumi asked, "can you read?"

That worked. Chi pulled back and gave Yumi another curious look. "Chi?" she asked.

"Can you read?" Yumi asked again. "Here, look at these." Yumi walked over and pulled out a book, some story about ancient Japan from school last year that she'd liked enough to read again. She opened the book and showed it to Chi. "Can you read these?"

Chi peered at the book, then pointed to the words. "Yumi," she said, then looked up at Yumi and smiled.

Yumi hung her head. This might be a lot more difficult than she'd thought. How was she supposed to teach a persocom how to read? She started looking around for her dictionary, then paused as she saw Chi point to the book again.

Was it her imagination, or did Chi look like she was focused on reading? Something seemed different about her eyes, like she was concentrating. Yumi held the book open, waited for Chi to do something different. After a moment, Chi pointed to another word, and looked to Yumi again.

"Samurai," Chi said. "Samurai?"

"Yes, samurai," Yumi said with a nod. "That's what the book's about. So you can read, can't you?" She handed the book to Chi, who took it and plopped down on the floor, her head bent over the pages.

That was a relief, Yumi thought. If she'd had to teach Chi Japanese, she . . . she wasn't sure what she would have done. There were programs to teach persocoms all kinds of languages, but those all were for normal persocoms. And Chi clearly wasn't anything close to normal.

"Yumi!" her mother called from downstairs. "Come down, please, we need to talk to you!"

Yumi winced. "I'll be back soon," she said to Chi. Chi looked up at her and smiled, said "Chi!", then went back to reading. At least that hadn't changed, Yumi thought.

She hurried downstairs, found both her parents waiting at the bottom of the steps. The concerned look on her mother's face was familiar; it seemed like she'd been wearing it all Yumi's life. Her father looked much the same, and Yumi wondered if the damage to Hanako was still on his mind.

"What is it?" Yumi asked. For a moment neither of them spoke, and Yumi's heart beat harder, once. This wasn't going to be good, was it?

"Do you want to keep the persocom?" her father asked, giving her a serious look from beneath his thick eyebrows. "We've talked, and we don't know if it's a good idea to keep one like her in the house."

"If she's damaged Hanako already," her mother said, sadness in her voice, "who knows what she could do to another persocom? I don't think she'd put you in danger, but we don't know anything about her, do we?"

"Her name's Chi," Yumi said, almost on reflex. "I – I thought it fit, since that's all she could say at first. But she's said a few more things, and now she's upstairs reading. I think she'll learn things as she goes."

"Learn things?" Her parents shared a look, and her father shook his head. "Yumi, persocoms don't work that way. They're programmed with what they know, or they download information. But they don't learn, not like we do."

Yumi nodded. "I know, but I told her my name, and she said it," she said. "And when I showed her a book, she looked at it for a while, then said one of the words. She's reading now."

"Are you sure?" her mother asked. She held a dishtowel in her hands, and wrung it between her fingers as she spoke. "It could all be part of some program, something that someone put into her so she could go live somewhere else and damage their persocoms, it could be. . . ."

Her father shook his head. "We don't have proof of anything like that." He looked at Yumi. "I don't think – Chi, you called her? – is dangerous, but I think you should keep her away from any other persocoms, just in case."

"Don't let her near Hanako again," her mother said.

Yumi smiled at them both. For a moment there, it seemed like they were going to take Chi away. That couldn't happen, not when she still knew so little . . . not when Chi was just starting to learn things. And no matter what her dad said, Chi had to be learning, there was really no other way to explain it. "I won't!" she said.

"Dinner's in an hour," her mother said, then turned back toward the kitchen. She paused a moment later. "Oh! Yumi, don't forget, your sister's birthday is in two days. Will you go to pick up the cake before the party, so she doesn't see it until it's time?"

"Of course!" Yumi hurried back up to her room, then paused outside her door again. What would she find when she went inside? Would Chi have read the entire book, or something amazing like that, proving that there was something special about her? Yumi thought about it, and realized she hoped it wouldn't happen like that. Some persocoms could read through books in a few minutes, then tell you everything that happened like they'd known the story all their lives. If Chi did that, she'd be just like the rest of them.

Yumi opened her door, saw Chi was only a few pages into the story, and let out a quiet sigh of unexpected relief. Chi turned to look at her and gave her a bright smile. "Do you like the book, Chi?" Yumi asked.

"Chi!" Chi said, sounding very enthusiastic.

Yumi sat on her bed and watched Chi for a moment. "I really don't know what to do with you," she said, thinking out loud. "I don't want to take you to school-"

Chi looked up all of a sudden, something like sadness in her eyes. "Chi?" she asked, a pleading note in her voice. She put the book aside and stood, then leaned over and propped herself up with one hand on Yumi's bed. She reached for Yumi's shoulder, rested her hand there. "Yumi . . . Chi?"

"Oh, it's not that," Yumi said, waving her hands in sudden apology. "They make all the persocoms wait outside the classrooms, because there's not enough space for them. I don't want you to have to spend all day standing there."

When the look on Chi's face didn't change, Yumi continued, her voice softer. "And I don't know if it would be a good idea, to bring you there," she said. "You don't know much, you can hardly talk . . . all the people and other persocoms might be too much for you. Maybe if you could say more, or knew more?"

"Chi . . . does not know?" she asked, sounding like she was struggling with the words. She lowered her eyes. "Chi . . . does not know. Yumi knows. Yumi?"

Yumi stared at her for a moment as she realized what Chi was asking her. Chi wanted to know things, and she wanted Yumi to teach her. She blinked, slowly. Of all the things she'd never expected to hear from a persocom. "I'll try," she said quietly. "I don't know how much I can do, but I'll try."

"Chi," Chi said, and smiled again. A moment later, she lifted her hand to her face, and pressed her fingers to her lips, then her cheeks. "Chi does not know . . . this. But Chi . . . likes this."

"It's a smile," Yumi said, and matched it with one of her own. "It's what you do when you're happy."


	3. Just Let Me Try

Part 3: Just Let Me Try

"So you left her home all day reading the dictionary?" Misha asked, her dark eyes wide. Having her hair pulled back so tightly made her forehead look large, so Yumi often wondered if the other girl's eyes would start moving upward, growing bigger and bigger until she looked like an anime character.

"I couldn't think of anything else to do," Yumi said, ducking her head. "She was reading that samurai book from last year, and she kept asking me what words meant. So I told her to look them up. When I went to bed, she was just reading out of the dictionary."

The two of them walked along the wall outside their school, tall trees from the other side hanging over the sidewalk. The day was over and done with, and nothing but homework stood between them and some free time. Naturally, Misha was bothering her about the new persocom, as she'd clearly been waiting to do all day. As active as Misha was, her lunchtime was taken up with club activities, and Yumi herself had tennis, so they'd had little time to talk before then.

Misha tilted her head, then laughed loudly. "That is so weird. And you still don't know anything about her?"

Yumi shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "But I think she'll be okay, as long as Mom doesn't try to make Hanako hide whenever Chi's around."

"Your mom would do that," Misha said with another laugh. Then, she went completely serious in the space of a blink and gave Yumi a significant look that oddly reminded Yumi of her parents. "But I have to know: how are you doing?"

"I'm . . . fine?" Yumi gave Misha what she hoped was her best confused look. "Why?"

"Not what I meant," Misha said. She gave a dramatic sigh, still overly serious. "How are you doing with having a full-sized persocom around all the time?"

"Oh," Yumi said. "It's not like that with Chi."

"Wow, you are doing better," Misha said, then clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh! I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry!"

Yumi could only laugh. She knew Misha meant exactly what she said, and only pretended it slipped out when she thought she might have to apologize for it afterward. In some ways, her honesty was a good thing. Most people would have been too polite to say anything at all, rather than pretend it was an accident.

Yumi looked up at the cloudy sky. She'd thought about Chi off and on over the course of the day, trying to determine just what it was about her that made her unlike other persocoms. Aside from the obvious. Maybe – no, that had to be it, she thought as she realized something.

"It's all right with Chi," Yumi said, "because she's not perfect. She doesn't know much, and the first time I heard her say something other than 'chi' was a day after I found her. But it's like . . . because she's not like the others. . . ."

"She needs you," Misha said.

Yumi froze in mid-step, nearly tripped. She flailed for a second, making Misha duck aside and shout. Was that it? Was that why she'd wanted to rescue Chi in the first place, why she'd been so insistent on bringing her home and keeping her, even when she couldn't do anything – even when she'd damaged other persocoms?

"Ha, got you there," Misha said, mirth in her voice. "So that's why you're in such a hurry to see her again!"

"It's not like that," Yumi said, the denial instant.

"Then how come we're already at your house and we just left school ten minutes ago?" Misha asked.

Yumi looked around. Her home was just a few houses down. They usually didn't get here for at least fifteen minutes, taking the walk slowly so they could chat. But today – and yesterday, she realized – she'd hurried home as quickly as she could, eager to see what was happening with Chi.

Wasn't this the exact sort of thing that people who got addicted to their persocoms did? Yumi put a hand to her mouth as she tried to think.

"_It's a smile, it's what you do when you're happy."_

The memory came back too quickly. Yumi looked at Misha, who stood there with her arms folded, her expression somewhere between accusation and mischief. "Is it . . . really like that?" she asked.

"Kinda looks like it," Misha said with a smirk.

Yumi lowered her hand. "I just . . . I want to know what's going on with her, and it seems like there's something special about her, something that makes her different. I want to find out what that is."

Misha chuckled at her. "And for that, you're running home and not spending time with your best friend."

"Oh, don't be like that," Yumi said. "Do you want to meet her?"

"Yes!" Misha nodded eagerly, and the two of them headed for Yumi's house.

After shedding their shoes at the front door, they hurried up to Yumi's room. "Chi, I'm home!" Yumi called as she opened the door. She looked around the room. Chi wasn't there. The windows stood partly open, curtains blowing in the gentle breeze. Yumi looked around again, just to be sure. No one.

"Chi?" Yumi said. "Are you there?"

"Please tell me you didn't make this up," Misha said, doubt in her voice. "Because it's a good story, but-"

The closet door flew open, and Chi leaped out, clad in a business suit half a dozen sizes too big for her. Her hair streamed out behind her in pale waves, her eyes were half-closed in an unfamiliar look, and she stretched one hand out toward Yumi. In that hand, she held a long-stemmed pink carnation that Yumi recognized from her mother's flower arrangements downstairs.

"Yumi!" Chi said, and threw the flower at her, stem first. She then jumped toward Yumi and hugged her tight. "Welcome home, Yumi!"

Yumi started to hug Chi, then froze when she realized Misha was watching them both. "I don't know where she learned this," Yumi said, feeling herself start to blush.

Misha stepped halfway across the room and picked up a few small books with bright illustrations on the covers. "She's been reading Sailor Moon."

Yumi felt her blush grow warmer. "I – I didn't remember I still had those. . . ."

Misha shrugged, somehow putting her entire body into it. "Could be worse," she said, and her smile turned wicked. "She could have found some of my older brother's stuff. Then she might have tried to punch you when you came in. Or something . . . more than that." She pointed to Chi, who still held Yumi as tightly as she could.

More than that? Yumi remembered what Misha said about her brother's manga collection, and how much of it he thought was hidden, and understood all too well. Time to change the subject, she thought, and quickly. "I'm glad to see you too, Chi, but you have to let me go," she said.

Chi looked up at her, what seemed like a lack of understanding in her eyes. "Chi?"

"I, umm – I can't introduce you to my friend if you're holding onto me," Yumi said all at once. "Do you want to meet her?"

"Chi!" Chi let Yumi to, turned to Misha, then stood with her feet together and bowed to Misha. "Chi."

Close enough, Yumi thought, though she did wonder if Chi had learned that behavior from a book or from her mother. Her mom was really set on the family's persocoms being properly and traditionally respectful. "Yumi, this is my friend Misha," she said. "Misha, this is Chi."

"Charmed," Misha said, a quirk in her smile. Yumi knew that look, and also knew she wouldn't hear the end of this for quite some time.

"Misha," Chi said, then stood and pointed at her. "This person is Misha." She pointed at herself. "Chi."

Misha blinked a few times, then looked at Yumi. "Wow. You weren't kidding about her needing to learn everything."

"She's doing a lot better," Yumi said, then paused before the sudden defensive tone in her voice became too clear. She looked to Chi. "Chi, what did you read today?"

Chi pointed to a stack of books on the floor in the corner by the window. Her finger barely stuck out of the coat's overly long sleeves. "Chi read all those." She pointed to Yumi's manga collection, about half of which now lay in a small stack next to the shelf. "And all those."

"She must have some speed-reading software, to do all that," Misha said, then peered at Yumi. "Why the open face?"

Yumi shook her head, only just realizing her mouth had been hanging open. How could Chi have read so much in one day? Most of those books had taken her at least a week to read, to say nothing of the dictionary. But Chi must have; it didn't seem like she would lie, if she was capable of lying. And she was talking a lot better than yesterday.

Then, Yumi noticed Chi was looking at her again, an unsure expression on her pale face. "Software?" she asked. "Chi does not know . . . about any software. Chi just read books all day because Yumi was not here. Is what Chi did . . . good?"

"Oh, it's very good," Yumi said quickly. Something about the look on her face, it was like she needed approval, like she was worried she'd done something Yumi didn't like. Yumi smiled and gave her another hug.

"Chi," Chi said, and hugged her back. "Chi will read more, if it makes Yumi smile more."

Yumi froze, and looked at Misha, who stood there wearing a curious look. That wasn't normal for persocoms, was it, she wondered. They tended to want to do what their owners wanted, but wanting to see them smile? She'd never heard about that.

"Well, I can see you two have a lot to do," Misha said, the wicked smile firmly back in place. "If you've read so much, Chi, maybe you can help Yumi with her homework. I know that would make her smile too."

"Misha," Yumi muttered.

Chi pulled back, both her hands on Yumi's shoulders. "Chi will! Chi will help Yumi if Chi can."

"And you do have a lot of homework, don't you?" From the look on her face, Yumi could tell Misha was holding back a laugh. Probably a very loud one. "I'll let you get to it. Nice meeting you, Chi! See you Monday, Yumi!"

"Misha!" Chi said, then turned and waved. "Have a good day!"

Yumi waited to relax until she heard the downstairs door close. She let out a weary sigh, then threw herself onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. As if things with Chi weren't strange enough already. Now, not only had she read half the books Yumi owned in a day, she was acting . . . different.

She'd heard of programs for people who wanted their persocoms to have specific kinds of personalities. Some people wanted one who just followed orders and only spoke when spoken to, something Yumi thought seemed kind of strange, like those people wanted a perfect servant. And she'd heard some of the guys who made custom 'coms talk about personalities based on their favorite movie and anime characters; those ones were really popular. Maybe, Yumi thought, letting Chi read shoujo manga hadn't been the best idea. But she hadn't thought Chi would do that.

A new weight settled on the bed, and Chi's face came into Yumi's view, looking down at her, concern in her amber eyes. "Chi?"

"Hmm?" Yumi asked.

"Is Yumi hurt?"

Yumi frowned up at her, realized what the look in Chi's eyes really meant. "No, I'm fine," she said. "I'm fine."

"In the books . . . people lay down on beds when they aren't sleeping because they feel sick," Chi said. "Chi does not want Yumi to be sick. Chi does not know how to make Yumi better if Yumi is sick."

Yumi sat up, putting herself level with the persocom. "I'm fine, Chi," she said. "I just don't know what to do with you."

"Chi?" Chi frowned, and lowered her head. "Did Chi . . . do something bad? Chi thought Yumi would like if Chi did this when Yumi came home." She held up her arms, and shook them back and forth, making Yumi's father's coat flap around them. "The girl in the book liked this. Does Yumi like this?"

"It is pretty funny," Yumi said, smiling a little. "But you should put the clothes back before my dad gets home."

"Chi will!" Chi leaped off the bed and stripped out of the oversized clothes. She then gathered them up and hurried for the door, and Yumi realized that Chi hadn't had anything on under the suit.

Yumi blinked again as Chi ran out of the room, then shoved herself off the bed as her brain caught up with her eyes. "Chi!" she cried. "Come back, you're naked!" She looked around and saw Chi's usual clothes in a pile in the closet, grabbed them and hurried after her.

Once they'd returned the suit to its hangers and gotten Chi dressed again, Yumi lay down on her bed once more. A moment later, Chi lay down next to her. "You can keep reading if you want, Chi," Yumi said.

"Chi," she said. "Misha said Yumi needed Chi's help for homework. Does Yumi want Chi to help?"

Yumi thought for a moment. This was what people usually used persocoms for, wasn't it. But she had the rabbit on her desk, and . . . and it seemed better for Chi to keep reading. Books, she mentally amended. No more manga for now. "No, it's okay," she said. "I can do it myself. Besides, I want you to learn more." She paused, wondering. "Do you like reading, Chi?"

Chi nodded, seeming very enthusiastic. "Chi really likes it. Chi will ask Mrs. Oumura for more books when Chi reads all of Yumi's."

So, they'd met, Yumi thought. And just as she'd thought, her mom had told the persocom to use the more formal way to address her. That made sense. As much as her mom liked having Hanako around, she'd made sure to train Hanako to be kind and respectful to people.

Her mother treated Chi like any other persocom, of course. Yumi wondered if her mom thought there was something special about Chi, or if she figured Chi was just broken. She supposed it didn't matter much. As long as Chi wasn't invited to the dinner table, nothing would be different for her.

And so, Yumi did her homework while Chi read, and the room was mostly quiet, except for the sound of pages turning and the occasional shuffle of Chi getting another book to read. Yumi found herself smiling whenever she heard that last one. Most persocoms would do what their owner wanted, and had no trouble with just standing or sitting in one place for as long as they had to. But Chi wanted to read. Chi liked reading.

That really did make her different, didn't it?

Yumi looked over her shoulder and watched Chi read, wondered again about what Misha said earlier. Maybe Chi did need her, Yumi thought. Or maybe Chi just needed anyone who was willing to teach her. But . . . she was Chi's owner, and she wanted Chi to learn, so was Chi just doing what she wanted?

"Chi?" Yumi asked.

Chi turned and looked at her, pale hair spilling out all across the floor. "Chi?"

"If I said that you couldn't read . . . what would you do?"

For a moment, Chi didn't say anything, just looked at Yumi, her features growing slowly downcast. When she spoke again, she sounded sad. "Yumi said . . . that Chi was good for reading. Chi wants to be good, because Yumi smiles when Chi is good. If Chi can't read, because Yumi said so . . . Chi does not know."

"There is something different about you, isn't there?" Yumi whispered.

"Chi does not know," Chi said again.

"Yumi! It's time for dinner!"

Her mother's call made Yumi jump out of her chair in surprise. She looked up and realized just how long she'd been doing homework; the sun was well on its way toward setting. "Coming!" she yelled back, then closed her books. "I have to go eat, Chi, but I'll be back."

"Can Chi keep reading?"

Yumi paused, looked down at her. "Of course, Chi," she said. A strange relief swept through her at the smile on Chi's face. "Of course you can."

Yumi headed downstairs slowly, trying to collect her thoughts. She'd never heard of a persocom actually caring about their owner's feelings. They just did what their owners said, what they were programmed to do. If their owner asked what she'd asked Chi, they would say that they would stop reading, because their owner wanted it. But Chi . . . it seemed like she thought about what Yumi said before, and even about what she wanted for herself. Were persocoms even supposed to have wants?

She didn't have an answer by the time she got to the dining room, and made an effort to smile for her family. It wouldn't do for them to think she was upset about something. Her mother would want to spend the whole night talking again, like she had after she ended things with Mister Ueda. And if she did that, she couldn't talk more with Chi–

Yumi caught herself, stopped where she stood. This was what happened to people with persocoms, she thought. They only wanted to spend time with the persocom. Not with other people. But . . . she wasn't getting like that, was she? No, she thought, shaking her head. She was going to eat with her family, just like she always had. And she hadn't brought Chi along. She was fine.

They gathered around the table and knelt, like always; Yumi sat across from her older step-sister Shizune, whose stylishly short haircut had nearly scandalized their mother when she first got it. Shizune's boy persocom was, of course, nowhere to be seen. Their mother had no trouble with Hanako serving the meal, but the dining room was otherwise for family and friends only.

"Yumi, I spoke to your persocom today," her mother said as soon as everyone sat. "No one's been able to figure out what's wrong with her?"

Yumi shook her head. "No, and after what happened with Mutou's persocoms, no one wants to try," she said.

"Is this the one you found in the trash, sis?" Shizune asked, then snatched a piece of food from the main course and ate it before their mother could protest. "Mom says there's something weird about how she talks."

"I'm really not sure," Yumi said, forcing a smile. "But she's getting better. I think reading helps her a lot."

"She seems very strange," Yumi's mother said, looking away a bit. "I've never heard of one that wanted to read so much."

"Me either." Yumi looked at her father, who didn't appear too interested in the conversation. "Dad, guess what we have to read for history next week?"

The rest of the dinner went on about as normal, and Yumi did her best to avoid talking about persocoms. Nothing new, really; they usually didn't discuss things like that at dinner. Hanako served them, of course; Yumi looked closely but couldn't tell where her face had been burned. She remembered how her father said not to mention that in front of Hanako, because he wanted her to forget.

Was that what had happened to Chi, she wondered. Had something so bad happened to her that her former owner had erased her entire memory and put her out in the trash? It seemed possible, but . . . even if that happened, she should still have an OS. There might not be a way to find out, Yumi thought, then put it aside for another time.

After bathing, Yumi returned to her room to find Chi still reading. She'd finished the rest of Yumi's books, and most of her manga, judging by the small stack that remained. Yumi smiled at that. No point in telling her not to read it now, she thought, and besides, Chi seemed to like it.

"Chi, do you sleep?" Yumi asked as she closed her room's door.

Chi looked at her. "Chi can sleep," she said. "Can . . . Chi sleep in Yumi's bed?"

Yumi's eyes widened. "I – I don't know. Why . . . why do you want to?"

"Chi." Chi held up one of the manga volumes, one with a couple in a tender embrace on the cover.

Yumi felt her cheeks grow warm. Romance manga always seemed wonderful at first, and so many of them ended with the couple getting together. So few of them showed what it was like to really be with someone, and even fewer showed the couples breaking up. Yumi had nearly forgotten she had that series; after what happened with Mister Ueda, she'd lost all interest in the genre.

"The people in this one, they sleep in the same bed, and it makes them happy." Chi opened the book and pointed to one page. "They're smiling. Will Yumi smile if Chi falls asleep with her?"

Yumi started to say something, felt the words catch in her throat, swallowed hard and figured the truth was best. "I don't know, Chi," she said. "I haven't . . . been happy like that with anyone for a while."

"Chi," Chi said, and set the book down. "Chi will sleep on the floor, if Yumi does not want Chi to sleep in her bed."

"What does Chi want?" Yumi whispered, unsure of why. When Chi looked at her again, she knew the answer.

"Chi wants to sleep in Yumi's bed, because that will make Chi happy," Chi said. "But if it will not make Yumi happy-"

"It's okay!" Yumi said quickly, before she could think about it again. "If you want to . . . it's okay."

Chi's face brightened. "Chi! Chi will change clothes too. Mrs. Oumura gave Chi clothes for sleeping."

No surprise there, Yumi thought. She crawled into bed, and by the time she was there, Chi had changed into a frilly nightgown that Yumi thought must have once belonged to her mother. It was far too long for her, and her hands were lost somewhere in the sleeves, but Yumi smiled. There was something oddly cute about it.

Chi slid into bed next to Yumi, and Yumi felt a strange warmth coming from her. Were all persocoms supposed to be warm like that, she wondered, then felt Chi take her hand between her own. It was what they did in the manga, was Yumi's last thought before she drifted off to sleep.


	4. A Long Way Down

Part 4: A Long Way Down

Yumi awoke.

The sun shone in around the edges of her curtains, casting bright lines all around her room but leaving most of it dim. No school today, she thought, a common first thought on the day off. There were things to do, but they could wait; now seemed like a good time to just stay in bed. She shifted, let out a yawn. How could she sleep so well, but still not feel at all like getting out of bed?

She felt the warm presence next to her, and remembered. Last night, Chi had asked to share her bed, to sleep next to her. It was because she'd read about it in a manga . . . wasn't it? Persocoms were supposed to be programmed with things – most persocoms, Yumi amended, reminding herself again that Chi was definitely not like the others. But persocoms weren't really supposed to come up with things on their own, as far as she knew.

Yumi turned and looked at Chi. She lay with her eyes closed, her pale hair spilling out all around her half of the bed, a peaceful expression on her sleeping face. She still held Yumi's hand between her own. There was still so much about Chi she didn't understand, Yumi thought. She knew persocoms went into a sleep mode, to match their owners, and some said they wouldn't do well if they never got to sleep. But she'd seen Shizune's persocom sleeping before, on the floor next to her bed since their mother wouldn't let him sleep with Shizune.

What would her mom say, Yumi wondered, if she walked in right now?

But when Shizune's persocom slept, he just lay there, arms and legs all straight, staring up at the ceiling with his eyes closed. He didn't look like he was really asleep, more like he was . . . dead. It was kind of creepy, now that Yumi thought about it; even knowing he would get up and move when Shizune called for him didn't make him laying there look any less strange.

Chi looked nothing like that. If it weren't for her ear units, Yumi could have mistaken her for a real girl.

They're just getting better and better than people, some part of Yumi's mind whispered, and she frowned. Persocoms were better than people in most of the ways that counted; she'd thought that for a long time. Being able to impersonate people so closely, even mimicking something like sleep . . . it only made things worse.

Even if Chi was sleeping here because she'd wanted to, another part of Yumi's mind asked. Chi was different, and that made her even more real–

But that meant persocoms were just getting better–

But Chi wasn't like others, how many times did she have to remind herself–

Yumi squeezed her eyes shut and stuffed her face against her pillow, trying to make the warring thoughts stop spinning through her head. Chi being different didn't make her any less of a persocom. Even if that difference meant she needed things other persocoms didn't, like learning how to talk and what words meant. Even if that difference meant she seemed to genuinely want to make Yumi happy.

Just programming, Yumi reminded herself. It was just how Chi was programmed. But she didn't seem to have any programming. . . .

It was the same old things, everything she'd thought about, over and over again since she found Chi. Yumi looked up at the ceiling and whispered.

"There really isn't an answer, is there?"

Next to her, Chi stirred, and Yumi looked over. She realized Chi still held her hand; even when she'd thought about it earlier, she hadn't tried to take it away. The plush dolphin Yumi often clutched while she slept, especially if she was feeling sad, sat at the end of her bed and somehow looked forlorn.

Don't do that, Yumi told herself. It was one thing to wonder why a persocom – why Chi – wanted to make her happy. She wasn't going to start wondering if a stuffed animal felt sad because she wasn't hugging it.

Chi's eyes slowly began to open, the amber seeming to glow for a moment as she woke up. With her eyes half-open, Chi mumbled, "Chi. . . ."

"Good morning, Chi," Yumi said quietly, unable to think of anything else.

"Chi . . . good morning, Yumi." Chi's eyes opened all the way, and she squeezed Yumi's hand, pulled it close to her chest. "Chi is . . . happy, to wake up with Yumi."

Yumi felt her heart clench, and found she didn't have anything to say. There was some kind of sincerity in Chi's words, in her expression. . . . Persocoms usually looked like they knew what they were talking about, because they pretty much always did. They could smile, or frown, like anyone else. Of course they could; if they didn't seem like humans, people wouldn't get so addicted to them.

But there was something painfully genuine about the look on Chi's face. For a moment, Yumi forgot that it could be the product of a program, that it could be there because someone other than Chi wanted it to be. She only squeezed Chi's hand, and said nothing, and tried to ignore the pressure behind her eyes.

"Does Yumi have to go to school today?" Chi asked. Neither of them moved, and Chi only looked at her.

"No, I don't," Yumi said, shaking her head. "But we're having my sister's birthday party today, so I have to go out and pick up the cake for her."

Chi nodded. "Yumi has to go outside. Chi has read about going outside, going to other places. Can Chi go with Yumi?"

Yumi blinked at Chi, then realized she was right. As far as Chi knew, she'd never left the house – she didn't remember anything from before Yumi turned her on, so the only things she knew about outside she got from books. And, Yumi thought, those books weren't all good guides for the rest of the world. Especially the manga.

As funny as some people would think a persocom cosplaying as Tuxedo Mask was, Yumi knew that wasn't what she wanted Chi to do.

"Of course!" Yumi said, and smiled at her. "The bakery's not too far from here, but you can come with me."

Chi squeezed her hand again. "Chi! And Yumi smiled." She smiled as well, somehow looking very pleased with herself. "Chi hoped Yumi would smile."

"I didn't think I would," Yumi said, and only shook her head when Chi looked confused. "It's nothing," she said. "Let's go get some breakfast, then we can head to the bakery. Sound good?"

Chi's eyes brightened. "Chi!"

Yumi dressed casually, in a light sweater and skirt, and gave Chi another old skirt of hers as well as a long-sleeved white shirt and dark vest to wear. She would have to brush Chi's hair, Yumi thought. How hair that long wasn't already tangled into dozens of knots, she had no idea. It seemed a little strange to think about taking care of a persocom like that, but . . . why shouldn't she? If nothing else, she could teach Chi to do it herself. Chi would probably be happy to learn.

"Good morning!" Yumi called as she headed down the stairs, Chi clomping behind her in a pair of big black boots Yumi had pilfered from her sister's room. Like a lot of girls at that age, Shizune had gone through a rebellious phase a few years back; Yumi had liked the clothes but never felt like she had to do the same thing. All that remained of those clothes were Shizune's old boots, and since they matched Chi's vest, Yumi had decided to grab them. She figured Shizune wouldn't mind the loan.

"Oh, good morning, Yumi," her mom said, stepping out of the kitchen. She wore an apron over nicer clothes; as always, Yumi thought, her mom didn't like to change clothes once she was dressed, and had already prepared for the party later. "Good morning, Chi."

"Good morning, Mrs. Oumura!" Chi said, quite cheerful. "Yumi said Chi can go with her to the bakery!"

"Did she?" Yumi's mother turned and looked at her, eyebrows raised in an expression Yumi was sure she'd picked up from her father. "Is it all right to take her outside, Yumi? She seemed confused about things yesterday."

Yumi nodded quickly. "I think she'll be fine," she said. "Chi's learned a lot, and I'll be with her. All we have to do is go to the bakery and back."

"We'll see," Yumi's mom said after a moment. She stepped into the kitchen, came back a moment later with a tray stacked with chopsticks and glasses. "Chi, do you remember how to set the table?"

"Chi!" Chi said. "Chi remembers. Mrs. Oumura taught Chi yesterday. Can Chi set the table now?"

"Please do." Yumi's mother handed Chi the tray, and Chi skipped off toward the dining room.

Yumi watched her go. Chi hadn't even mentioned learning how to set the table yesterday, only said her mom gave her some clothes–

"Yumi."

Yumi started at her mother's quiet tone, and spun to look at her, unable to hold back some nervous laughter. "Y-yes, Mom?"

"Are you sure about this?" The look on her mother's face was a great deal more serious than a moment ago. "I know how you feel about persocoms, and now you're going around with this one when you've only had her for a few days. Are you sure you're not. . . ." She leaned in closer to Yumi. "Trying to get revenge on Mister Ueda?"

Yumi tilted her head and frowned at her mother. "Why would I do that?" She bowed her head, started to hold a hand over her mouth and lowered it again. "It's not his fault, he didn't do anything wrong. I just . . . I couldn't stay with him. Not after what happened before." She took a deep breath, tried to steady herself. "But this isn't about him," Yumi said. "Besides, Chi asked if she could come with me."

"Oh." Yumi's mom looked confused for a moment. "Are they supposed to do that? The only time Hanako ever asks questions is if I wasn't clear enough when I tell her to do something."

"I really don't know," Yumi said, and shook her head. "But there's a lot I don't know about persocoms." Like where Chi came from, she didn't say.

"Chi has set the table!" Chi called from the next room.

"Well, then." Yumi's mother smoothed her apron, and turned back toward the kitchen. "Go call your father and Shizune, would you, Yumi?"

After breakfast, Yumi's mother gave her a small envelope with money for the cake, and Yumi and Chi headed outside. Chi's first few steps were slow, but whether that was because she was unsure or if she was looking around at everything, Yumi wasn't sure. Or maybe Chi just wasn't used to walking in Shizune's clunky boots.

"Those are trees," Chi said, pointing as she and Yumi walked out into the street. "Those are power lines." She kept pointing, as though to confirm everything she'd read about. "Telephone poles. Clouds. Birds. Cars." After a moment, she looked to Yumi, her eyes wide and questioning. "Is Chi right?"

"Chi's right," Yumi said with another smile. "You read about all of those, didn't you?"

"Chi did," she said, returning the smile. "Chi saw many things from the window too, but Chi wanted to go outside to see them closer."

Yumi nodded, but said nothing more as they walked down the street. Would Chi be all right at her school, she wondered. She would have to wait outside the classrooms with the other persocoms, of course; no matter how much like a real person she seemed, Chi wouldn't be allowed to have a desk with everyone else. Even if she wanted to learn.

That would be interesting. Yumi knew her teachers would probably think a persocom that wanted to learn was something strange. Then again, some of the older teachers – and the principal – sometimes acted like having persocoms at school at all was very strange. Yumi had heard of another school where persocoms weren't allowed. At first, they all just waited outside the gates, until some of them got stolen.

Yumi looked over at Chi, who was still staring around at everything she could, often naming things and pointing to them. Someone would try to steal Chi in that situation, Yumi thought, and something inside her grew cold at the thought. Some people wouldn't want a persocom who couldn't do what others could, but others would just want to see if they could figure out how she worked.

"Stay close to me, Chi," Yumi said, hardly realizing it before the sentence was out.

Chi gave her a curious look. "Chi?"

"You know what stealing means, don't you?" Yumi asked.

"Chi." Chi nodded. "Stealing is taking something from somebody else, taking something they don't want to give. Someone stole a man's car in a book. It made him sad and angry."

Yumi nodded. "I don't want someone to steal you, so stay with me."

Chi skipped closer to her, held onto the side of Yumi's sleeve. "Chi will stay with Yumi," she said. "Chi does not want to be stolen either."

No persocom would, Yumi thought. But would any other say it like that?

The bakery stood at one end of a trendy downtown area, and since it was a day off from school, the place was packed with people around Yumi's age and their persocoms. At least for this, Yumi thought, Chi wouldn't seem out of place at all. Only someone who really knew their persocoms would see that Chi was different from the others. Yumi headed toward the bakery's painted blue-and-white sign, under the angel decorations, and pushed open the door.

A bell dinged as they walked in, and a male persocom with short brown hair and ear units sweeping back like digital wings turned to greet them. "Welcome to Angel Layers!" he said. "How may I help you today?"

"I'm here to pick up a cake," Yumi said as Chi looked around. "It should be under Oumura."

The persocom's eyes flickered, and a moment later, he gave Yumi an extremely professional smile. "I'm very sorry, Ms. Oumura, but we've been very busy lately. In order to have your cake done on time, we had to ask another bakery to take care of it."

Yumi's heart lurched as something horrible occurred to her. No, she thought, it couldn't be. There were more than a few bakeries in the area, weren't there. . . ?

"But it should be ready by now," the persocom said. He looked at Chi. "Shall I send her the address?"

"Just tell me," Yumi said, her breath catching in her throat. Don't say it, she thought. Please don't say it.

"Chiroru," the persocom said. "It's located at-"

"I know where it is," Yumi said quickly, and started backing toward the door, Chi still clinging to her sweater. "Thank you!"

Once outside, Yumi sat down on a bench and held her head in her hands. She felt Chi sit down next to her.

"Is Yumi all right?" Chi asked. "Yumi . . . knows about Chiroru? The persocom didn't say, but Yumi knows. Does Yumi not . . . like Chiroru?"

Yumi looked around, saw how many people were nearby. She couldn't talk about this here, she thought. Not here, not where someone she knew might see her, not when she might start crying. She had to get away, anywhere else.

There was a small park near Chiroru, she remembered. She used to wait there for Mister Ueda, until–

Yumi stood up quickly, just short of pulling Chi up with her. "We're going somewhere else," she said to Chi's questioning look. "We can talk when we get there." Don't say anything, she told herself. Just get where she was going. Once she could sit down again, she could . . . she could. . . .

Could she even tell Chi about this?

Yumi's mind raced as she hurried away from the trendy area without looking back. There was something very strange about this, she thought. A persocom was at the root of all these problems, all her problems, everything she'd gone through in the past few months with Mister Ueda. There was no reason at all for her to talk to a persocom about any of this.

And yet . . . the look on Chi's face. . . . Chi wanted to know. Like any good friend, Chi saw someone troubled and wanted to help them. Chi didn't want her to be hurt, even if Yumi wasn't sure if Chi really understood what it meant.

Chi had learned a lot over the past few days, but could she understand? Would she understand if Yumi told her everything?

Despite her thoughts chasing each other in circles again, Yumi found her way to the small park at the end of the street where Chiroru was. Even after she'd broken up with Mister Ueda, she'd come here a time or two, just to see him again . . . always from a distance, but to see him again made her feel a little bit better. To see that he was doing all right. She'd never seen Mister Ueda with another assistant at the shop; sometimes, she wondered how he was doing. He still had so much trouble with math. Even being here again. . . .

Yumi looked down the street and saw the edge of Chiroru's pink and white sign. It was all so close. She felt pressure behind her eyes again, and sank down on the park's single bench, and put her face in her hands.

"Yumi." Chi's hands rested on her shoulder and arm, giving her a gentle and almost familiar squeeze. "Does Yumi hurt?"

"Yes," Yumi whispered. She shook her head once, then tried to raise it. Her gaze went to Chiroru again, as though drawn, and she had to force herself to look away. Her eyes found Chi's.

Chi looked sadder than Yumi had known a persocom could. It was a program, the same small part of her mind reminded her. But she found she didn't want to listen. Even if Chi was just programmed to act this way, she still wanted to know why Yumi hurt. And she would listen, of that Yumi had no doubt.

"Chi . . . does not know what to do," Chi said. "But Chi remembers, in the books with pictures. When someone was sad, they would talk to someone, and that person would put their arms around them. Like this."

Chi leaned closer and put her arms around Yumi's shoulders, pulling Yumi to her. Yumi didn't resist, felt the strange warmth emanating from Chi, like she was a real person. She wondered again, faintly and distant, if all persocoms were like that, or if it was another thing that made Chi special. But there was comfort in it, she couldn't deny that.

"Will Yumi talk to Chi?" Chi asked. "Chi does not know what else to do. But Chi . . . doesn't want to see Yumi hurt."

"I'll tell you," Yumi said, still little more than a whisper. "I'm sorry, I don't know if I should, but I'll tell you."

"Why shouldn't Yumi tell Chi?" she asked. "Did Chi do something bad?"

"No." Yumi shook her head, felt her hair brushing against Chi's shoulder. "You didn't do anything," she said, held back a sob. "It's not you. It's not your fault. But it's something that happened . . . I wish it was longer ago, I think it might be easier."

Yumi gently pulled herself back. Chi didn't let go of her, but turned to face her on the bench, so she could keep her arms around Yumi's shoulders. Maybe it was better that way, Yumi thought. Misha hugged her a lot when she broke up with Mister Ueda, even if Misha had never really liked the relationship. So it wasn't too different now . . . especially with what she had to tell Chi.

"The man who runs Chiroru," Yumi began. "I . . . I used to be in love with him."

"In love?" Chi asked. "Chi has read about this. Chi . . . does not understand it."

"Nobody does," Yumi said, and somehow smiled just for a moment, despite the tears brimming in her eyes. "I didn't think he'd love me. I really didn't. He's older than me, and . . . I found out he'd been married before, I found out when I told him I loved him. He said she died, and he thought that meant I wouldn't want to be with him. But I wanted to. I wanted to be with him. I really, really did."

"This is why Chi doesn't understand," Chi said. "Sometimes people say they're in love and they smile. Sometimes people say they're in love and they cry. How do people do different things if they're saying the same thing?"

"I don't know." Yumi wiped at her eyes. Don't start crying, she told herself. Not yet. Or she'd never get the story out.

After a moment, Yumi took a deep breath and continued. "We were happy for a while," she said. "He was so cute, and he taught me things . . . I know how to bake because of him. He even made me a dress for when I was working there, it was so beautiful, and I knew . . . I thought . . . I thought it would last."

"Chi," Chi said quietly.

"But I found out who his wife was," Yumi gasped out. This was it, she thought. This was the part that hurt her the most . . . and this was the part that was going to hurt Chi. She swallowed hard past the lump in her throat.

"His wife . . . was a persocom, and her name was Yumi."

And Yumi let it go. A sob tore its way out of her throat, and tears streamed from her eyes, and she buried her face against Chi's shoulder. She felt Chi's arms circle around her, holding her gently. Why did it have to turn out this way, she thought. Persocoms . . . most of them were so perfect, there was no way she could compete–

"Chi does not understand," Chi said again, and Yumi froze. "Why does Mister Ueda's wife being a persocom named Yumi make Yumi sad?"

Yumi pulled back again and looked at Chi. How could she not understand? But there was no sign of deception in Chi's eyes, no suggestion that she was joking or anything of the sort. She truly didn't realize what the problem was.

Of course she didn't, Yumi thought. Chi still needed to be taught so many things. If only someone else could have explained this part . . . no, it was better this way. Chi probably didn't even understand other persocoms; it wasn't like she could have read about them from any of Yumi's books. So Yumi had to tell her.

"All the time we were together," Yumi said, "I had the same name as his wife, as a persocom. I can't compete with that. No matter what, he had to be comparing me to her, and there's no way . . . there's no way I could be better!"

"Persocoms are better than people?" Chi asked.

"They are!" Yumi insisted. She sobbed again, and started to pull back, looked at Chi's hurt expression and felt her heart clench again. "I mean . . . there's nothing they can't do. They're pretty and smart and polite and . . . and. . . ."

"Yumi is sad because of a persocom," Chi said, sadness in her voice nearly enough to match Yumi's own. What was going on behind those eyes, Yumi thought. "Does Yumi . . . hate Chi because Chi is a persocom?"

Yumi gasped, and put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, no, Chi, I don't hate you! How could you even think that?"

Chi pointed toward Chiroru. "Yumi does not want to see Mister Ueda because of a persocom. Yumi is crying because of a persocom. Chi is a persocom. Chi does not know . . . if Yumi likes Chi."

"Chi. . . ." Yumi could only stare. She hadn't expected this at all. With all the manga she'd read, Yumi half-expected Chi to just hug her and say everything would be all right, maybe say they should go shopping because the girls in the manga sometimes went shopping when one of them broke up with a boyfriend or something like that.

But this . . . it had only been a few days, but she'd never seen Chi look so sad. She hadn't known Chi could. And now, after all this, she didn't know if Yumi even liked her?

"Oh, Chi, I'm so sorry," Yumi said. She sat up and pulled Chi closer to her, reversing their positions from a moment ago. "I – I didn't want to tell you, I didn't know what you'd think about any of this. I didn't want you to think . . . Chi, I pulled you out of someone's trash, how could you think I don't like you?"

"Mrs. Oumura said she was surprised Yumi kept Chi," Chi said, her voice slightly muffled. "Mrs. Oumura said she didn't think Yumi would want a persocom around."

That was true, Yumi thought. There was Hanako, but Hanako mostly just helped out her parents; Yumi had her own computer and no real reason to use Hanako for much. And . . . and Yumi knew how she'd been thinking about persocoms.

So maybe her mother was right. But that didn't mean . . . she didn't have to think about Chi the same way, did she?

"I – I don't know how I can say it," Yumi said, speaking slowly as she struggled to find the words. "I didn't know what to do when I found you, or when all you could say was 'chi'. But . . . but I never hated you. I wanted to know what happened to you, and now I don't know if that matters. But I never hated you."

"Chi . . . is happy to hear that," Chi said. She then leaned back a little, wearing a small smile. She put her face close to Yumi's, and kissed her on the cheek.

Yumi blinked, tears falling anew, then looked at Chi. "What was that for?" she asked, her voice quiet and small.

"Chi," Chi said. "In the books with pictures, people did that for people they liked, and it made them both happy." Her smile disappeared. "Did Chi do something wrong?"

"No, you didn't, but . . . I guess I wasn't expecting it," Yumi said, unsure of what else to say.

"Chi!" Chi said, smiling again. "People did it as a surprise in the books too. Did Yumi like it?"

There really was no answer for that, Yumi thought; she found she had no idea how she felt about it. But she smiled anyway, and said, "Thank you, Chi."

"Can . . . can Yumi kiss Chi's cheek, too?"

Yumi felt her cheeks grow warm. Chi, it seemed, was full of surprises today. Before she could think about it too much, she moved in close and kissed Chi on her cheek, feeling oddly childish and giggly and yet . . . there was something good in it, something that made her feel better in such a simple thing.

Or maybe it was the way Chi smiled afterward. "Chi!" she said, and threw herself at Yumi where they sat, pulling her close in a tight hug. "Chi. . . ."

Yumi hugged her back. Maybe it was better this way, she thought. Chi didn't understand everything, and maybe she never would; what was wrong with that? She remembered what Misha said yesterday, about Chi needing her, and wondered again if that was right. Maybe . . . maybe that really was what made Chi different.

Chi wasn't like other persocoms. She wasn't perfect. She didn't know everything, and there were things she couldn't do. But nobody without those imperfections would be sitting here in the park, hugging her on a bench after sharing kisses on the cheek.

And maybe that made it all okay.

After a few moments, they separated, and Chi gave her a serious look. "Will it hurt Yumi to go to Chiroru?" she asked. "Does Yumi not want to see Mister Ueda?"

Yumi started to deny it, then thought about facing him again, and felt her heart pound hard and painful. "I can't go in there," she said quietly. "Let's go back home. I'll tell Mom that the cake's at Chiroru, and she'll understand. Maybe she'll send Shizune to get it."

Chi stood up. "Chi will get the cake," she said.

"You will?" Yumi blinked up at her. It seemed like the kind of thing people normally sent their persocoms out to do, helping with the errands. For Chi to volunteer to do something so mundane . . . something seemed odd about it. But wasn't this why people got persocoms to begin with?

"Chi will," Chi said with a nod. "Chi needs money to buy the cake."

Yumi nodded, and took the envelope out of her pocket. "Tell him you're here to pick up the Oumura order, and give him this," she said. "If he says anything . . . oh, I don't know what you should say . . . don't tell him anything I told you."

"Chi will say she is Yumi's," Chi said with a nod. "Chi will get the cake and come back to Yumi." She turned and hurried off down the street.

Yumi watched her just long enough to make sure she went into the right shop, then leaned back against the bench and sighed. When had all this happened, she thought as she wiped away stray tears. Months ago, she wouldn't have wanted any of this . . . she definitely wouldn't have brought a persocom along with her for errands, except for her little PDA. That was enough. But now, here she was, out with Chi.

No, she thought. It wasn't like that. The talk they'd just had, her own pain and Chi's worries and . . . .

Don't get addicted to spending time with her, that same small part of her mind whispered. She knew what happened to people like that, didn't she?

But it wasn't like that, she answered herself. Chi wasn't a substitute for being with people, wasn't some perfect person. In her own way, she was less than most persocoms, but also something more. . . .

Being with Chi was like being with a real person, Yumi thought. And maybe that made it all okay.

Soon, Chi returned from Chiroru, carrying a pale pink box with the bakery's name in white atop it. She seemed to be struggling a little; Chi wasn't very tall and the box was large. Yumi stood and hurried up to her as she came closer.

"Chi has the cake!" Chi said, smiling brightly above the box. "Chi gave Mister Ueda the money and got the cake. Can Chi and Yumi go home now?"

"Yes!" Yumi took the cake box from Chi, then started to ask, "Did Mister Ueda . . . did he ask anything?"

Chi's smile dimmed. "Mister Ueda asked if Chi was the Oumura's new persocom," she said. "Chi said Chi is Yumi's persocom. Mister Ueda . . . Chi is not sure how he looked. But then Mister Ueda smiled and told Chi to have a good day."

Yumi nodded. It probably hurt him to hear about her, but . . . there was nothing she could do. She couldn't have gone in there herself. It was better this way.

"Come on, Chi," Yumi said. "Let's go home."

"Chi!"


	5. I Won't Deny It

Part 5: I Won't Deny It

Three days later, Yumi waved good-bye to Chi and walked into her classroom. It still didn't seem right that she had to leave Chi outside of class with all the other persocoms, but she couldn't change the school's rules – they still didn't allow anyone who wasn't a regular student into the class. Not enough space, they said. And besides, none of the teachers believed her when Yumi said Chi wanted to learn.

Then again, Yumi knew she would have found it hard to believe if she hadn't found Chi. Persocoms didn't learn. Unless they were Chi.

Yumi smiled at the thought. By now, she knew Chi would have pulled a new book out of her backpack and started reading; she'd probably be done with it by the time Yumi's class was over. They'd run out of books from home for Chi to read over the past two days, so they'd made a trip to the library last night.

Hopefully Chi wouldn't read her way through the entire library, Yumi thought. She didn't think Chi was that fast, but. . . .

"Hey there, smiley," Misha said as strolled up Yumi's desk.

Yumi smiled overly large at her just to be annoying. Misha glared back at her, until they both laughed. "Morning, Misha," Yumi said. "How're you doing?"

"Not as good as you," Misha said, teasing in her voice. "Is that your persocom out there again?"

"Chi's here, yes." Yumi had been trying to get Misha to stop referring to Chi as just a persocom. Something about that didn't seem quite right, though Yumi herself wasn't really sure why not. "She likes coming here, so I think I'll keep bringing her. Or maybe get her a job at the library, so she can read everything without me having to borrow it first."

"That is weird," Misha said with a quick nod. "I've never seen anyone devour books like that, human or persocom." She shrugged, like it was no big deal. "Hey, what're you doing after school today?"

Yumi knew that face. Misha must have found some new and interesting place to eat, and wanted company to try it out. "I have to go to work," Yumi said, frowning along with Misha. "I'm sorry, but the boss gets really mad if I have to call in. The guys there can handle things, but he says we get more business if there's a cute girl working too."

Misha sat on the edge of her desk, a contemplative look on her face. It seemed out of place there, Yumi thought; Misha usually said whatever she was thinking right off. "Maybe you could have Chi work there for you?" Misha suggested. "She's read enough, she could probably manage the whole place by herself."

Yumi put a hand to her mouth, and tried to imagine Chi working at Club Pleasure. The first thing she thought of was Chi pointing to all the new things and naming them, which would be really funny if the guys were trading their DVDs of naked women. But. . . .

"You're thinking about it way too much," Misha said, then poked Yumi's shoulder. "I think you're thinking about things more since you found Chi." She grinned. "But it's better than you being all gloomy."

Yumi could only smile. Yes, anything was better than that.

During a break between classes, Yumi ducked outside, saw Chi completely engrossed in her book. It was something Chi had picked out herself, some story about a world with castles and dragons and enormous wolves, the kind of thing Yumi wouldn't have read but Chi seemed to really like. Her persocom was more literate than her, Yumi thought, then laughed to herself. As fast and as much as Chi read, she was sure to get into just about anything.

"How's the book, Chi?" Yumi asked as she approached.

For a second, Chi didn't move, then lowered her book and blinked. "Yumi!" She threw her arms around Yumi in a hug; Yumi managed not to grunt when the heavy book thumped into her back. When Chi pulled back, she looked down at the book, and the joy slowly faded from her amber eyes. "Chi is . . . not sure if Chi likes this book. A lot of people die."

Yumi nodded slowly. She wasn't sure why, but Chi had a problem with people dying; she wondered if her former owner had died, and that was why she'd been out in the trash. Better to not worry about it too much, she told herself.

Before Yumi could ask Chi anything else, Kenji walked up to her and Chi, his hair standing tall as usual. Behind his thick glasses, his eyes darted from Yumi to Chi and back, always analytical. "Hey, Oumura," he said to her, then looked at Chi. "This your mysterious persocom?"

"Hello, Kenji," Yumi said, trying to be polite. "This is Chi. Chi, this is Kenji. He's in my class."

"Kenji," Chi said, pointing at him, another habit she seemed determined to keep. "Hello, Kenji. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Kenji said, and put on a smile that Yumi guessed was supposed to be charming. "Chi, what's your model?"

"Chi?" Chi asked. She looked at Yumi, seeming confused. "Chi . . . does not know."

"You don't know?" Kenji asked. He blinked at Chi from behind his glasses, then looked from her to Yumi and back again. "You didn't tell her?" he asked Yumi, still looking at Chi.

"I don't know what it is," Yumi said. She gave Kenji a smile utterly free of guile. "But the last time someone tried to find out, Chi broke two persocoms."

Kenji peered more closely at Chi. "No way," he breathed. "I've got to take a look at her, that sounds intense." He reached for one of Chi's ear units–

Before she knew what she was doing, Yumi smacked away Kenji's hand. "Don't you dare, Kenji!"

He gave her a deathly glare. "What the hell, Oumura, I just want to – gaah!"

Misha stood behind Kenji, holding a cold can to the back of his neck. "Aww, Kenji, are you jealous?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcastic pity. "Just because someone's got a better persocom than you?" Kenji started to say something, but just made more tortured noises as Misha pressed the can harder onto his neck. "Go rewire something and leave the persocom that's too pretty for you alone."

Kenji stormed off back toward the classroom door, rubbing at the back of his neck and grumbling the entire way. He scowled at Yumi and Misha both as he walked inside.

"That guy really bugs me sometimes," Misha mused. She offered Yumi the can in her hand. "Tea?"

"Thanks." Yumi took the can with a small laugh, then saw the confused look on Chi's face. "Chi? Is something wrong?"

"Chi does not . . . understand what Kenji said." She looked from Yumi to Misha and back, her expression downcast. "Why did Kenji want to know things about Chi? Chi just met Kenji today."

"He's like that with all persocoms," Misha said. "It's a thing with him. If someone's got a 'com that's better than his, he has to upgrade, so he can always have the fastest and most powerful one. One like you," she continued, pointing at Chi, "he'd love to see what makes you tick."

"Chi?" Chi asked, giving Misha a confused look.

"Don't worry about him," Yumi said before Misha could go on about Kenji again. The two of them had been clashing for years. "But don't let him touch you, okay? If he comes up to you and starts asking questions, you can ignore him and walk away." She smiled at Chi. "I know Mom says that's rude, but it's okay if it's Kenji."

"Chi," Chi said with a nod.

At the end of the schoolday, Yumi left class with Misha and got a welcoming hug from Chi. Yumi saw Chi was already about halfway through her book; either she'd decided she liked it or just wanted something to read, Yumi thought. Before any of them could say a word to each other, Kenji walked up again, still looking upset.

"Look, don't attack me again," he said, holding up a hand. Yumi couldn't tell if he meant it to be peaceful or if he was just getting ready to block anything Misha might do. "I really want to take a look at her, Yumi. I know a lot of guys who do custom jobs, and they'd flip if I told them about a 'com that powerful. Come on, please?"

"No," Chi said.

Yumi, Misha, and Kenji all stared at her. Kenji looked like he was about to start foaming at the mouth, while Misha just looked surprised. Yumi started to say something, then stopped at the determined look on Chi's face. When was the last time she'd seen Chi look like that?

Had she ever?

"Kenji cannot touch Chi, because Chi is Yumi's," Chi said, the same firmness still in her voice.

"I wasn't asking you," Kenji said, "I was asking Oumura." He gave Yumi a pleading look. "Come on, please?"

Yumi kept her expression carefully blank. "Chi can make up her own mind," she said. "And I wouldn't let you anyway." She brushed her hand against Chi's, and Chi took it, moved close to lean against her. "She's not something for you to figure out, Kenji."

"And I don't think your little brain could handle her," Misha said, then gave Kenji's forehead a hard flick.

"Oww! Damnit. . . ." Kenji rubbed at his forehead, then spun on his heel and walked away, grumbling the entire time.

When Misha turned and looked at her, the serious expression she wore set Yumi back a step. "We need to talk," she said, and started walking toward the hallway doors.

Once they were outside and away from the school, Misha slowed to a stop, then turned and looked at Yumi and Chi. "Are you okay with all this, Yumi?"

Yumi sighed. Next to her, Chi didn't seem bothered; after what Yumi told her outside Chiroru, Yumi figured that Chi understood. "I am," she said to Misha. "I know it seems strange, but really . . . I'm all right."

"You know why I'm asking, right?" Misha asked. "Nobody thought you'd ever get a persocom again, not a full-person one. Nobody who knows what happened, anyway. And I really didn't think you'd get like this over a girl one."

Yumi blinked at her. "I didn't even really think about it," she said, putting her hand to her mouth. "Does that seem strange?"

"You've just kind of flipped around completely in a week." Misha leaned in a little closer, put a hand on Chi's shoulder. "But you know what?" she asked Chi. "I'm glad Yumi found you. You should have seen her before. She was mopey like you wouldn't believe, and if you even mentioned a cake around her, she'd start to cry."

"I wasn't that bad," Yumi murmured.

Misha winked at her. "Trust me, you were."

"Yumi was . . . sad, before she found Chi?" Chi asked. She looked at Yumi. "Yumi told Chi what happened with Mister Ueda. Chi . . . did not think Yumi would like Chi after hearing the story. But Yumi still liked Chi."

"Well, yeah," Misha said. "She's kind of soft-hearted like that."

"I'm right here," Yumi said.

"And you are soft-hearted," Misha said, seemingly deaf to the irritation in Yumi's voice. "Otherwise you never would have gotten so mushy over the old baker guy." She took a deep breath, and patted Yumi and Chi both on their shoulders. "I hope you'll be very happy together."

"Misha!" Yumi protested, her cheeks growing warm. "I don't – it's not like that, I don't know if. . . ."

"Chi is happy with Yumi," Chi said. If she noticed Yumi's embarrassment, she didn't show it at all. "And Chi . . . is glad Yumi found Chi, and Yumi wants to keep Chi." She smiled. "Yumi said she will not give up Chi, and that. . . ." Chi put a hand over her heart. "That makes Chi feel warm here."

Misha looked back at Yumi. "She's been reading your shoujo stuff again, hasn't she?"

"She finished it all a few days ago," Yumi said, utterly unsure of what to think. Just . . . just what was Chi saying? And why was her own heart beating so hard?

"But, you have to go to work," Misha said. She patted both their shoulders once more, then winked at Yumi again. "Don't make her wait up too late, okay?" She stepped back and turned away before Yumi could say anything, then hurried down the street. "See you tomorrow!"

"Goodbye, Misha!" Chi called, waving. "See you tomorrow!"

A moment later, Chi looked at Yumi. "Chi?" she asked. "Did Chi . . . say something wrong?"

"Nothing wrong," Yumi whispered. She found Chi's hand and squeezed it. "You just . . . surprised me. I didn't think you would say something like that."

"Chi. . . ." Chi put her free hand over her heart again. "Chi was telling the truth. Chi is glad to be with Yumi. Is Yumi . . . glad to be with Chi?"

"Of course," Yumi said quickly. She gave a shaky smile, then said, "Let's get home, okay? I have to change into my work uniform before I go."

They hurried home in silence, Yumi's mind racing. Of course she knew about people having feelings for their persocoms. But what Chi said . . . it sounded like Chi had feelings for her. Could a persocom do that – of course one could, she knew that. There were even programs for that. But Chi did so much on her own, so. . . .

So that had to be what Chi really meant, what she really felt.

Was it possible?

Yumi and Chi arrived home before Yumi had figured out any of it. Yumi's mother greeted them at the door, a concerned look on her face and a dish towel half-crumpled in her hands. "Welcome home, Yumi, Chi," she said. "Yumi, you have a guest."

Yumi looked around the entryway and past it into the living room, and her heart thudded hard in her chest. "Chi, can you go up to my room, please?"

Chi looked as well, then looked back at Yumi. "Chi," she said, and walked upstairs.

"I'll make some tea," Yumi's mother said, and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving her alone.

Yumi walked into the living room, her hands shaking. "Good afternoon . . . Mister Ueda."

Mister Ueda turned to her and stood, then bowed, his bangs just short of falling into his eyes. She'd always thought that was so cute, Yumi remembered. And he still looked so young, yet he was close to her parents' age. Not much seemed to have changed about him, though it had only been a few months . . . no.

The sadness in his eyes, while not new, wasn't something she was used to. He'd never looked like that when they were together. Just before . . . and after, now. Yumi's heart clenched, knowing she was part of why he hurt so much.

But for all the pain she'd felt as well, after learning about his past, his wife, Yumi knew she must have looked much the same.

She didn't anymore, Yumi knew that. And a new, small part of her mind reminded her why that was the case.

"Yumi," Mister Ueda said quietly. "I'm sorry for coming by out of the blue like this – I should have called."

"It's all right," she said, also quiet. What would she have done, she wondered, if he'd called? Would she have wanted to see him? A month ago, even a week ago, she might have, but now . . . she couldn't be sure.

"It's – it's good to see you again," she said, every word a struggle. She wondered if she was telling the truth, or just being polite. She'd hardly even been able to look at Chiroru a few days ago, how could it be good to see him? Yumi realized she didn't believe her own words.

And it seemed he didn't believe her either. "I don't know if it can be," he said. He sat down slowly, and Yumi did the same. "I know this must be hard, it wasn't easy for me to come here. But . . . I had to know."

"About Chi," Yumi finished. The look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. "I . . . I'm sorry, I had to send her to get the cake. After I found out that you'd made it, I couldn't . . . I couldn't go in and get it."

They sat there in silence for a moment, both their heads bowed, and Yumi listened to the painfully familiar sound of his breathing. When she couldn't stand the quiet any longer, she asked, "What did Chi say to you? When she was at Chiroru."

Mister Ueda didn't look at her. "She said she was here for the Oumura's cake, that another persocom said I'd made it. I didn't recognize her – I knew your family has Hanako, so I thought she would be the one picking it up."

"Hanako got damaged," Yumi said, keeping her voice down in case the persocom was nearby. "She's just been doing things around the house for now."

He nodded, then continued. "So I asked who she was, and she said her name was Chi. When I told her I didn't think the Oumuras had a new persocom, she said. . . ." His voice caught in his throat. Yumi waited for him to speak, knowing how hard it must be for him.

"She said she belonged to you."

When Yumi said nothing, Mister Ueda forced a brief laugh. "It was really a surprise," he said. "After what happened, I didn't think you'd have a persocom."

"Nobody did," Yumi said, and forced a laugh as well, though she let it die quickly. There was enough pain here, right now, without that sort of thing. "It was kind of a surprise to me too."

"Why?" Mister Ueda asked, raising his head to look her in the eye. "I thought you . . . what you told me when you broke up with me, you said that persocoms were perfect and you could never compete with that." A tear showed at the edge of one eye; he wiped it away quickly. "I tried to tell you, you're not competing with her at all-"

"I found Chi in the garbage," Yumi said quickly; she felt bad for interrupting but there was no way she could put herself through the pain of recalling their breakup again. Not right now, not with him here. "I didn't know why anyone would throw away a persocom, not when . . . when everyone likes them so much."

"I don't understand," Mister Ueda said, shaking his head. "Do you still feel the same way about them? Or do you. . . ." He trailed off, and raised his hands, a defeated gesture. "Please, tell me."

Yumi thought back to that night, only a week ago. Had it truly been so little time? Chi had changed so much in these past few days, even more since Yumi started bringing her to school. Chi was growing, it seemed – just like a real person, not because of any programming.

It really was just as she'd learned, as she'd been thinking. Chi truly was special. And that made all the difference.

"I thought there was something wrong with her," Yumi said, "but also . . . I felt sorry for her." She sighed and shook her head. "I still don't really know why I wanted to bring her home. But I did.

"And when I did, she didn't know anything, she couldn't do all the things persocoms do, couldn't even say anything but 'chi'. I didn't know if something was wrong with her, or if she was broken, or anything. I had to teach her to say other things, and she really didn't start talking much until she started reading. But the way she looked at me, it was like. . . ." She remembered Misha's words, and squeezed her eyes shut tight. This wasn't going to be easy for Mister Ueda to hear, but she had to say it.

"She needed me."

After a silent moment, Yumi dared to open one eye and look. Mister Ueda sat there, still looking so sad, but not the same way he had when she first saw him. What was that look, she wondered. Had she ever seen that when they were together?

Yes . . . once. When she'd told him she loved him, he wore that look before saying that he loved her too.

"I think I know what you mean," he said, his voice so quiet she had to strain to hear. He was trying not to cry; she could tell. "When Yumi, my Yumi, started to break down, I felt like that. She needed me, even if she didn't realize it." He took a deep breath. "But your Chi, she's gotten better since then, hasn't she? She's doing more than when you first found her."

It was his story again, Yumi realized, just turned around. The persocom he fell in love with broke and stopped working right, while Yumi found Chi and helped her to work better, and then . . . and then. . . .

"_That makes Chi feel warm here."_

Yumi remembered the look on Chi's face when she said that, how happy she seemed, how truly she seemed to feel. The small part of her mind that usually wondered if persocoms really felt for people or if it was just how they were programmed said nothing, as though seeing Chi's feelings expressed had silenced it. There was something real there. Chi's feelings were real. They had to be.

No programming could replicate that look on someone's face, and Yumi doubted it could make Chi know that she would feel warm inside at feeling that way about someone.

"How do you feel about her?" Mister Ueda asked.

Yumi pressed a hand to her chest as she felt her heart clench again. Knowing how you felt about someone was never easy, she thought; how much time had she spent agonizing over her feelings before she confessed to Mister Ueda? And this was so different . . . Chi was a persocom, and another girl besides.

But then she thought of Chi's smile, and the quiet comfort of sleeping next to her, and the way Chi kissed her on the cheek because she thought it would make her happy. Yumi knew her own manga well enough to know the only times someone kissed someone else in those books, even just on the cheek, was when they felt something for the other person. Chi had read all of them, she must know the same.

Assuming Chi truly understood. But she picked up things so quickly . . . she must know. And somehow, Yumi didn't doubt she understood.

Chi . . . really did feel that way about her, Yumi realized. And the twinges she felt inside were just familiar enough to make her think she could feel the same.

"I . . . I don't know," Yumi said. "This is all new to me, I think. But there's something about her, something I didn't think I'd see in a persocom. I don't even think of her as a persocom anymore, just . . . just as Chi."

Mister Ueda wiped away tears again, and gave her a small, genuine smile. "Then I think that means you can be happy with her."

He said his goodbyes and stood, and Yumi heard him apologize to her mom on his way out. Her mother said something polite about it being good to see him again; Yumi didn't think she sounded sincere, and she figured Mister Ueda would know she wasn't. But that was all right.

A moment later, Yumi's mother came to join her in the living room, holding a tray with two cups of tea. "What was that all about?" she asked, handing Yumi a teacup.

"He made the cake for Shizune's birthday," Yumi said. "I'm sure you saw the box, thank you for not saying anything." She wiped away a tear and continued. "I had Chi go into Chiroru to pick it up, because I couldn't go in there. He . . . he didn't think I would have a persocom, so he wanted to know about Chi."

Yumi's mother sat down, and took a sip of her own tea. "She's a special one, you know," she said. "Chi is."

Yumi raised her eyes and started to ask, then saw the expression on her mom's face and stayed quiet. Her mother wore a certain look when she was about to explain something, and there really was no stopping her once she started.

"You've been doing better since you found Chi," her mother began. "I've seen it, so has your father. I might be old, but I remember what it's like to be your age and have your heart broken."

"Really?" Yumi asked, then ducked behind her cup at her mother's disapproving frown. "I mean, you never said anything about that."

To Yumi's surprise, her mother laughed. "Would you have believed me? I know when I was your age, if my mother had told me she knew what I was going through, I wouldn't have listened to her. I would have thought, she's old, she doesn't know what she's talking about.

"But I do know," she continued. "And I hoped you'd find someone else, someone closer to your age. Maybe one of the nice young men you work with. But you didn't seem interested in anyone else, and I was worried."

"And you think Chi's helped?" Yumi asked.

"You've been smiling more," her mother said, a quiet approval in her voice. "And I hope you know how glad I am to see that."

Yumi smiled then, and thought back over the past week. A lot had happened, to be sure. But it seemed like everyone had noticed. She remembered Misha's words, and her strangely formal approval of Chi. Funny how so many people could see something while she didn't notice much at all, Yumi thought.

Of course, she'd been thinking mostly about how things usually were with persocoms and how Chi was different, so it wasn't like she'd been thinking much about herself. But now. . . .

"Mom, can you call work for me?" she asked. "Can you tell the manager I'm not feeling well and can't come in?" Her mother's look quickly changed to disapproval, and Yumi ducked her head. "After talking with Mister Ueda . . . I really don't feel like I should go into work. It's kind of hard to think about all of this."

Her mother finished her tea and stood. "I suppose it can't be helped," she said. "Such things are never easy to deal with." She then smiled. "Even if you have someone who can help you deal with them now."

Yumi blinked at her, but her mother said nothing as she left the room. What was that supposed to mean? Yumi stared into her tea as she heard her mom make the phone call. It seemed like . . . did her mother approve of Chi, like that? So easily? Or was it just because Chi had helped her get past things with Mister Ueda?

This . . . she needed to think about it more.

Yumi spent the rest of the afternoon doing her homework and getting ahead in some school reading, never going up to her room. Chi was there, she knew, and she needed to figure this out before she talked to Chi again. Some part of her wondered if it was mean to leave Chi alone for so long like that, but. . . . For all the thinking she'd done before confessing to Mister Ueda, she could spend a little time figuring out how she felt about Chi as well.

During dinner, she listened with half an ear as her father talked about things at his business, and as Shizune went on about her tests for getting into college and how she had a good chance of getting into her first-pick university. All through that time, Yumi found herself wondering how Chi was doing, and if she should have invited Chi down to eat with them. Not that Chi ate, but it would have been good to have her there.

After the meal, Yumi slowly walked up the stairs and stood outside her bedroom door. This, she thought, was never where she'd expected to be. Even if she'd stopped thinking about Chi that way, she couldn't deny it – Chi was a persocom. But now, wondering if she had feelings for a persocom . . . how had she come to this place?

She'd found one who needed her, a small part of her mind said. One who wasn't perfect. One who felt for her without being programmed to.

And that made all the difference.

A warm feeling grew in Yumi's chest, and she opened the door.

Chi lay there on the floor, books spread all around, long pale hair spilling out behind her. She looked up as Yumi walked in, and her amber eyes brightened as she pushed herself off the floor.

"Yumi!" Chi said as she hugged Yumi close; Yumi wrapped her arms around Chi and squeezed tight. When they separated, Chi looked up at her. "Is Yumi all right? What did Mister Ueda say to Yumi?"

Yumi laughed without truly knowing why, and hugged Chi close again. "He said he thinks we can be happy together," she said. "Chi, do you think we can?"

Chi was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Chi knows, because Chi is happy with Yumi," she said. She looked up at Yumi, a kind of longing in her eyes. "Is Yumi . . . happy with Chi?"

"I am," Yumi said, and felt the warmth in her chest settle. All she'd had to do was say it, she thought. All she'd had to do was accept it.

And when they went to bed, Yumi pulled Chi close and held her against her, and drifted off without another thought.


End file.
